Day of Triumph.
Another year is almost over and after a few nervous weeks leading up to “The Day of Triumph” we were able to successfully hold the event on the planned day. As you can imagine this is not one of those events that can be moved around as easily as the month by month runs, due to hire the facility and also have everyone wash and polish their cars to the standard needed.
With only 39 cars on the day it was a bit down on predicted numbers and I guess this was partly due to the unpredictable weather and the fact that there were a few cars racing around the track at Bathurst. Sorry neither was in my plan but I’m sure some of you made it back to watch the ending and an interesting one it was.
The week’s leading to this weekend saw torrential rain, flooding and agents pulling out on us. Not to be deterred by this I held several talks with the council regarding a change of vendor support and also the condition of the grounds. For some reason, this year they were a bit more difficult to deal with.
This last week’s task was watching the weather, just in case we needed to do a plan B at the last minute. Thankfully we had a few good days drying everything out, however it changed again on us and was a bit blowy in the morning and threatened showering us during the course of the day. By the time the rain did come we were all packed up and gone.

A big Thank you must also go to the following people.
Sue Gibson and Marg Berlemon, the ladies on the gate:
Aaron Ellery and Bill Berlemon for their on ground support.
Our very supportive inspector: Colin White
And to the inspection team: Roger lange, Richard Sutherland, Dean Bogisch, Neil Martin, Steve Moule, Alex Smithson, Brian Argent, Peter Davidge, Alan Gold.
I would also like to thank those that asked if I need any help during the day; it’s always this support that we rely on.
Without your help the day would not have been the same so thanks again.
With the scrutinizing all done and with the wonderful assistance of our score keepers Rory Gibson and Mike Temby,
we have the list of winners.

Below the The winners circle (Those that I was able to catch so sorry if i missed you.)
After everything was squared away and just as the last cars were pulling out, I had 2 people approach me regarding their times with Triumphs.
Len Burton kindly donated books to add to our library and Richard Dew talked about badging for Stags. He gave us a point of contact that apparently has moulds to produce these if you are in the need for them the contact is early.morning@bigpond.com
So that’s it for 2016. I hope that everyone got the best out of the day that we could hope for and we would like to see more out next year.
As announced on the day, I’m already looking at alternatives for next year with more lessons gained form this year.
PS: For those that have won trophies these will be presented at this year’s end of year dinner. The info can be found on the web or in Trak.
Hope to see you there.
Best regards
Ian Rigby

A professional photographer friend of mine recently arranged a photo shoot of a range of classic sports cars at Aldinga Aerodrome. Mine was the only Triumph. The plane in the background id a replica of a Waco biplane. A possible candidate photo for the next calendar?!

I spent 8 years bringing my Stag up to virtual ex-factory specification. This involved the rectifying of the myriad of ‘bodges’ that had accumulated in the 30 years prior to my ownership, and replacement of parts worn out due to age.

I set out for the 2014 rally in Perth on the 16th October having plenty of time to get there. After all, 1000km per day is very achievable in a Grand Tourer such as the Stag.

I had only travelled as far as Port Germain when an idiot crossed my path.

I found out later that a requirement for passengers in the rescue helicopter is that you be completely naked and travel in a sort of body bag. The only clothes that are not cut off, and therefore ruined, are shoes.

I woke up in hospital, and as I was not TOO badly damaged, I thought my Stag would be repairable.

NOPE!!

The only panel not buckled is the boot lid. Although the rear bumper and rear lights are also undamaged. Six months later and I have still not recovered enough to drive any car.

The idiot who caused the crash was prosecuted by police. She was charged with aggravated driving without due care and pleaded guilty. She was sentenced to 10 weeks in custody, but this was suspended upon entering an 18 month good behaviour bond. She was disqualified from driving for 15 months.